MNS to field own candidates but will back Modi for PM

Agencies/MumbaiThe Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) yesterday publicly threw its support behind Narendra Modi for prime minister ahead of next month’s general elections. The firebrand head of the far-right party, Raj Thackeray, said he would back the Bharatiya Janata Party leader, while announcing that his party would also field a handful of candidates for the elections. “We will support Narendra Modi for the prime minister’s post. Modi should become the prime minister of the country,” 45-year-old Thackeray told supporters in Mumbai where his party is based. The MNS, a rival offshoot of the hardline rightwing Shiv Sena, has a record of inciting riots and other violence mainly in its opposition of migrants in Maharashtra. Thousands of poor migrants from mostly northern India flock to the financial hub in search of jobs, which the MNS sees as a threat to the local Marathi workforce. The MNS champions the culture, language and rights of regional Maharathis over so-called “outsiders.” Despite the support, it is unclear whether Thackeray’s move will help Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is tipped by opinion polls to defeat the ruling Congress Party at polls starting on April 7. According to reports, former BJP president Nitin Gadkari urged Thackeray days earlier not to field MNS candidates to preserve the BJP’s ties with traditional ally Shiv Sena and avoid splitting the vote against Congress in Maharashtra. After Shiv Sena took power in the Maharashtra government in 1994, it changed the city’s name from Bombay to Mumbai to underline the region’s Marathi identity in a move that attracted worldwide attention. Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat since 2001, is seen as a pro-business reformer. But his Hindu nationalism and links to deadly anti-Muslim riots in 2002 in his home state have worried religious minorities and defenders of India’s officially secular character. l Actor-filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar yesterday announced he would contest the Lok Sabha election from Mumbai North-West as an MNS candidate.“I got a call from Raj (Thackeray), and I am very happy today,” Manjrekar said. He said “this is the right time” to plunge into politics.”I have always been politically aware and I can’t just sit and blame things around me. I think normal people should get into politics. To bring the change, you have to take initiative,” Manjrekar said.“This is the right time. But I promise to retire when I am 60 as I want more youths to come (into politics),” said the 55-year-old known for films like Vaastav and Astitva.